Door check



March 1, 1960 L. B. KLINGLER DOOR CHECK Filed Nov. 14, 1957 1 awrznce 5 M27 4 1N VENTOR.

\\ FIG.3. BYE? ITI'OENEY This'invention relates'to a door-check, and more particularly, toa door check of the'type provided with improved and noveF means for effectively preventing the forcible closing or slamm'ing of'clo-sures, as disclosed and claimed in myU.S. application Serial No. 691,642, filed Qctober' Door checks of variousconstructions have been employed, heretofore, for cushioning the impact following the forcible closingor slamming of doors. These doorv checks, however, are primarily intended to cushion the impact of the closing door rather than to provide a positive check so-as: to completely stop the door at a partially "open position and'then permit the door to move" slowly to its closed position. Also, most of the door checks of the prior art have been employing springs, for their operation, which spn'iigs are not reliable for they usually lose their springine'ss during continuous use thereby failing to function properly; Also, springs are susceptible to' corrosion, which may cause an early failure thereof.

It is therefore the main purpose ofthe present invention to provide a door check of simple construction, em-

ploying the least number of movable parts thereby elimimating the possibility of failure duringoperation and which door check provides a positive'check and is efficient and reliable in operation.

It is further the purpose of the present invention t provide a door check in whiclrthe use of springs or any other resilient elements is eliminated, and which door check isarranged to effectively and completely stop ajar a? forcibly swinging door and thereafter permit the door to move slowly to its closed position, thereby preventing the door from being slammed;

A door check constructed in accordance with the present invention comprises a pivoted buffer arm for mounting on a door'fram'e, a housing member for mounting on a door in alignment with said buffer arm, stop means on said housing member for engaging said arm to prevent closing of the door, and a movable member on said housing member adapted to cause downward movebufier arm is shown in its normal. substantially horizontal position;

Figure 2 is a vertical section, on an enlarged'scale, taken substantially on line 2-2 of Figure 1,. showing the approximate. position. of the butter arm with respect to a housing member of the door check before engagement;

Figure 3. is avertical section, similar to Figure 2, but showing. the buil'er arm. in engagement with stop means of thehousing member of the door check; and.

2,926,379 Patented Mar. 1, 1960 2 Figure 4 is a vertical section similar to Figure 2, but shown broken away and in which the buffer arm'is shown;

in engagement'with a slide member carried by the house in member" and pointed downwardly so as to" move to an inoperative position upon slow closing of the door:

Referring indetail to the drawing, the illustrated em bodiment of the door check of the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, and as shown, comprises acasing or housing member 12 mounted on the inside of a door 14'and in alignment with a rigid buffer or check arm member 16 of substantially L-sha'pe p'ivotally mounted on a door jamb or frame 18 for ex tending outwardly of the door jamb 18' in a generally horizontal normal position. The buffer arm 16, preferably made of metal, is mounted on the door jamb 18 by a bracket 20 having a base plate 22 adapted to be. atltached to the door jamb'1 8 asby screws 24. Extending at right angles to the bracket base plate 22'; a supporting plate 26, adapted to be disposed vertically when the bracket 24 is mounted on the door jamb 18, is formed with a vertically disposed slot 28 through which extends the butler arm 36. The buffer arm 16 is pivotally mountedon a pin- 30' extending horizontally through slot 28 when in place and threadedly engaging the supporting plate 26, as shown in Figure 1. The pin 30 should be of sufficient strength to withstand the impact of the buffer arm 16 with the housing 12'; i

The buffer arm is is formed with the front end of its longer portion 32 beingt-aperedf and curved at the upper side to the tip thereof, as indicated at 34,. for apurpose as hereinafter described. The other-or rear end of the check arm. 16 is formed with a wide fiat portion 3 60f shorter length and extending substantially at rightiangles to the arm portion 3-2 for-acting as a balancing weight to cause the buffer arm 16 to assume its normal, horizon tal position. A screw 38 may also be provided on" the supporting. plate 26 for adjusting vertically the laterally extending position of the arm 16.

The housing member 12, preferably made of metal, is secured to the door 14 by means of screws 40 extending through a base or back plate 42. The back plate 421's formed with a fiat upper surface 44' and a lower inwardly, downwardly sloping surface 46 forming therebetw'een a shoulder or stop member 48 having-an upper horizontal side 50 and extending laterally across the plate 42. A

pair of opposed side plates 52 extending at right angles to the back plate 42 are provided for housing a slide member 54 carried by the housing member 12. A cover 56 is also provided for retaining the slide member 54'o'n the back. plate 42. The cover 56 maybe held in place by a bolt 58 extending through the sides 52, or by anyother suitable means.

On the shoulder 50 is adapted to rest the slide member 54 whichvfreely slides on the flat surface 44 of the back plate 42. The slide 54 is adapted to descend on the shoulder 50 by gravity after being raised to an upper position by engagement with bufier arm 16, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The buffer arm 16 is adapted to' engage the slide 54 at a downwardly and inwardly sloping side surface 60 extending from an upper flat side 62 which is disposed substantially vertically in the housing, member 12. with a flange 64 disposed parallel to the back plate 42 and extending from an upper side 66 disposed perpendicularly with respect to the back plate 42 for preventing tipping of the slide 54 outwardly of the back plate 42. The lower end of the slide 54 is formed with an inwardly turned and upwardly extending bearing side surface 68. In the preferred form, the slide 54 is shown as being open at the sides thereof even though vertical sides may be provided ifso desired. The slide 54 maybe The slide 54 is further formed.

made of sheet metal of relatively heavy gauge and bent to the proper shape as shown in the drawing.

In operation of the door check to prevent slamming or forceful closing of the door 14, the buffer arm 16 extending from the door frame 18 in its substantially laterally horizontal normal position, as shown in Figure 1, will, as the door swings toward its closed position with respect to the door frame 18, engage the slide mem ber 54 at about the center of the sloping side surface 60. The slide 54 by the impact of the buffer arm 16 on the sloping side surface 60, is caused to rise upwardly in the housing 12. The front tapered end 34 of the buffer arm 16 is then slidably guided downwardly along the lower portion of the sloping side surface 60 of the slide 54 until it reaches the upper side 50 of the shoulder stop member 48 upon which it will rest, as shown in Figure 3, thereby preventingthe door 14 from closing. In this position, the tapered front end 34 of the arm 16 also engages the lower edge of the slide 54 which is held in its raised position thereby.

,As the door 14 rebounds from the impact of the engagement with the buffer arm 16, the buffer arm 16, as the housing 12 is drawn away therefrom, will start to automatically move upwardly. In the meantime, the slide 54 will, as it is released from its upper position wherein it was held by the arm 16, as shown in Figure 3, automatically descend of the shoulder 48 while engaging the front end upper tapered side 34 of the arm 16 by its sloping side surface 60 and thereby will prevent the arm 16 from swinging back to its normal horizontal position. i

As shown in Figure 4, the arm 16 is then held mo mentarily in a downwardly inclined position by the slide 54 until the door 14 begins again to swing toward the door jamb 18 to be finally closed. This closing movement of the door will force the arm 16 to by-pass the shoulder 48 and to engage the sloping surface 46 and to slide downwardly along the sloping surface 46 to an inoperative position, whereby the door 14 being now unobstructed is permitted to close. I

It is readily seen from the foregoing description of the door check of the present invention that the door 14 is completely stopped ajar by the bulfer arm 16 as long as the door 14 is forcibly swung toward the door jamb 18. The door 14 is permitted to close only when the door 14 is slowly moved toward the door jamb 18 so as to prevent the slide 54 from being raised by the buffer arm 16. This action of the door check it) effectively prevents slamming of doors which very often results in accidental catching of fingers therebetween.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only, and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise, except as defined in the appended claims:

What I claim is:

1. A door check comprising, in combination, a supporting member for mounting on a door jamb, said member having pivot means, a bufier member pivotally 'mounted on said means and adapted to extend horizontally and outwardly of the door jamb for swinging downwardly to an inactive substantially vertical position, a housing member for mounting on the inside of a door in alignment with said buffer member for engagement therewith, a member'slidably mounted for upward movement on said housing member for engagement with said buffer member to cause said buffer member to move ldownwardly while said slidable member moves upwardly, said housing member having stop means for engaging said buffer member when it is caused to move downwardly by said slidable member to momentarily completely stop forcible closing of the door, and said ,slidable member'adapted to again engage said buffer member in an upward movement thereof on rebound of ,the door for causing said butfer member to by-pass said step means and move downwardly to the inactive substantially vertical position thereby permitting the door to slowly move to a closed position.

2. A door check comprising, in combination, a supporting member mounted on a door jamb, said supporting member having pivot means, a buifer member pivotally mounted on said pivot means and adapted to extend horizontally and outwardly of the door jamb for swinging downwardly to an inactive substantially vertical position, a housing member mounted on the inside of a door in alignment with said buffer member, a slidably movable member carried insaid housing member and adapted to move upwardly, said housing member having a step-like portion upon which said slidably movable member rests in normal position, said slidably movable member having an inwardly sloping surface for causing downward movement of said buffer member to engage said step-like housing portion for completely stopping forcible closing movement of the door while said movable member is caused to move upwardly by said buffer member, and said slidably movable member adapted to return to the normal position and to engage said buffer member when the door rebounds from the impact of said bufier member with said step-like housing portion for preventing upward movement of said buffer member, whereby said bulfer member is caused to be further moved downwardly to said inactive substantially vertical position by the slow movement of the door to its closed position,

3. A door check comprising, in combination, a support member for mounting on a door jamb, said support member having pivot means, a rigid buffer bar having a curved front end mounted on said pivot means said bar adapted to extend horizontally and outwardly of the door jamb for swinging downwardly to an inactive substantially vertical position, means on said buffer bar for urging said bar to the substantially horizontal position, a housing member for mounting on the inside of a door in alignment with said buffer bar, said housing member having a back plate and opposed upstanding sides, said back plate having an upper flat portion and a lower inwardly sloping portion forming a shoulder portion therebetween, a slide member carried in said housing for movement longitudinally on said back plate flat portion and adapted to rest on said back plate shoulder, said slide member having a downwardly inwardly sloping surface for causing the front end of said bar to move downwardly to engage said back plate shoulder while said slide member automatically moves upwardly by the force of the impact of said bar with said slide member when the door forcibly moves toward the door jamb, and said slide member adapted to descend on said back plate shoulder when the door rebounds, whereby said slide member causes said bar to move downwardly along said sloping portion of the back plate to the inactive substantially vertical position when the door moves slowly to a closed position.

4. A door check comprising a support for mounting on a door jamb, a buffer member pivotally mounted on said support and adapted to extend at the front end thereof outwardly of the door jamb for swinging downwardly to an inactive position from a horizontal active position, a housing member for mounting on a door in alignment with said buffer member, said housing member adapted to stop downward movement of said butfer member thereby stopping forcible closing of the door, and movable means carried by said housing member for guiding said buffer member into said inactive position when the door is slowly closed and displaceable thereon for depressing said bufier member into door-stopping engagement with the housing member during forcible closing of the door and also during its rebounding whereby said buffer member will be further depressed upon reengagement with said movable means for moving further downwardly to the inactive position thereby permitting the door to move slowly to its'closed position. I

5. A door check comprising, in combination, a support for mounting on a door jamb, a pivoted bufier member on said support adapted to extend horizontally outwardly of the door jamb for swinging downwardly to an inactive position, a housing member for mounting on a door in alignment with said buffer member, said housing member having stop means for stopping downward movement of said bufier member thereby stopping forcible closing of the door, and a member on said housing normally covering said stop means and movable awaytherefrom for depressing said buffer member into door-stopping engagement with said stop means during forcible closing of the door and also during its rebounding whereby said buffer member will be caused to by-pass said stop means and be further depressed upon re-engagement with said depressing member for moving downwardly to the inactive position thereby permitting the door to close.

6. A door check comprising, in combination, a support for mounting on a door jamb, a pivoted bufier member on said support adapted to extend horizontally outwardly of the door jamb for swinging downwardly to a vertical inactive position, a housing member for securement on the inside of a door in alignment with said buffer member, means on said housing member for engaging and stopping downward movement of said buffer member when the door is forcibly moving toward the door jamb, and a member movably carried in said housing for depressing said buffer member into door-stopping engagement with said stopping means during forcible closing of the door and also during its rebounding and normally covering said stopping means and movable away therefrom, whereby said bufier member will be further depressed upon re-engagement with said movable member for moving downwardly to the inactive position thereby permitting the door to close.

7. A door check comprising, in combination, a support for mounting on a door jamb, a pivoted bufier arm mounted on said support and adapted to extend horizontally outwardly of the door jamb for swinging downwardly to an inactive substantially vertical position, a casing for mounting on a door in aligmnent with said butler arm, said casing having stop means adapted to engage said bufier arm in downward movement thereof for stopping forcible closing of the door, and a slidable member in said casing adapted to engage said buffer arm normally covering said stop means and movable away therefrom for depressing said butler arm into door-stopping engagement with said'stop means during forcible closing of the door and also during its rebounding, whereby said buifer arm will be further depressed upon reengagement with said slidable member for moving downwardly to the inactive substantially vertical position thereby permitting closing of the door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 363,688 Shaw May 24, 1887 2,703,427 Opland et al Mar. 8, 1955 

